Fair Trade 2.0 at WVU

My interest in Nicaragua sprouted from my involvement in the organization Fair Trade 2.0 of West Virginia University. Fair Trade 2.0 was founded in the fall of 2010 by a group of students and our faculty adviser at WVU, Dr. Bradley Wilson. Dr. Wilson had completed his doctoral dissertation in Nicaragua, and was searching for a way to link the University with a coffee cooperative with whom he had developed a close personal relationship during his time living in Nicaragua as a Fulbright Fellow. Cooperativa La Hermandad in San Ramon, Nicaragua, thus became our first partner in what we consider an "experiment" in sustainable development.

Fair Trade 2.0's mission is to provide the impetus for local, community-oriented economies and sustainable food production while encouraging cultural and environmental conservation. We work to foster the development of direct relationships between producers and consumers in the global food economy that will increase the quality of life for all. The focus of our organization is to fill a need in the international economy for community-building economic activities both in local areas and between global producers (i.e. the Global North) and consumers (i.e. the Global South). We have created a space to experiment with means to contribute to the development of communities that are self-sustaining and diversified on the micro scale with the vision that each member can adequately fulfill his or her human needs and begin to address the broader needs of the local community.